Leaving it Behind
by Take Your Sweet Time
Summary: Luke debates on doing rebirth. When he was about to jump into the River of Lethe, Reyna talked to him. Reyna debates on doing rebirth, but talked to Luke when he was about to dive into the river. It's friendship—not a pairing! One shot. Review.


**Hope you like it! This is not a Reyna/Luke ship—it's friendship.**

**I've had this for a while so I finished it and posted it.**

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**Leaving it Behind**

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Luke sat on top of a hill of sand on the beach as he saw the glistening waves splash against the rocks as he heard the noises of laughter and the delicious aroma of barbecue. Every time a wave would clashed against a rock, Luke closed his blue eyes and listened to the sound of the waves.

Luke felt surprisingly calm at the beach. He enjoyed being at the Elysium with its golden gate community with Greek buildings, Roman marble mansions, Victorian villas scattered around the 3 small island, and small parks with swing sets and slides, but he had his eyes on something better—Isle of the Blest. Sure, when Luke used to be alive his half-siblings would tease him that he was an over achiever, and surprisingly, Luke agreed. He loved adventures because he enjoyed accomplishing them—minus his failed quest for the golden apple—and he was willing to work for it. From where Luke sat, he saw a large island with a few people situated in it that partied on their beach shores and loud music played. From what Luke had heard, the Isle of the Bless was an island that had shady parks, people indulged athletics, and played music so that time can pass by.

His stomach grumbled so Luke got up and patted down his blue shorts and his orange button down short-sleeved shirt. Luke walked down the steep hill where people gathered around laughing and eating.

"Hi, Luke," Silena shyly greeted him. His and Silena's relationship was awkward at first because he blackmailed her into becoming a spy for Kronos, but when Luke died, one of the first things he did was apologize which Silena forgave him for. She wore a light pink shirt with dark blue short and no foot wear. She had dark black hair and light blue eyes. The shade of hair reminded him of Thalia and Silena's eyes looked similar to compared to Thalia's electrical blue ones.

"Hey," Luke said, cooly.

"Here," Beckendorf said as he passed Luke a cheeseburger on a paper plate and a bottle of red Kool-Aid. Beckendorf had on dark green shorts and a light blue shirt.

"You're such a gentlemen," Silena cooed.

Luke could tell that Beckendorf still wasn't comfortable around Silena—and any other women—unless it happened to be a woman robot. Beckendorf blushed and placed his hand behind his head and walked back to the black stove grill where he nearly tripped along the way.

"You seem happy," Luke noticed.

"Yup," she said as she enthusiastically nodded.

Luke grabbed his cheeseburger and bit into it. He remembered that Thalia loved cheeseburgers, and Annabeth as well. Luke remembered, while he was dying, that he told Annabeth that he was going to try rebirth to be invited into Isle of the Blest and Annabeth told him that he pushed himself too hard. He always wondered how it would feel like to bump into a Greek legend like Achilles—whom he met when Luke bathed in the River Styx where he attempted to stop him—and to hear first hand stories about his adventures. Luke had met great people here in the Elysium like Odysseus, Perseus—the real one—, Maria di Angelo, Emily Zhang, Esperanza Valdez, etc; he was reunited with people he knew like Silena, Beckendorf, Ethan, etc.

Luke knew that going to Isle of the Blest was something he wanted to pursue; he made the decision that he was going to do rebirth. _I'm leaving it all behind, _he thought.

After Luke finished eating, he walked to his small villa. The villa was small, made of bricks with a white tiled roof, green grass as the front yard, and a small road that led to the front door. He entered the villa and saw light wooded floors, white-painted walls, a small living room with cream-colored leather couches with a huge flat screen TV that had a play station connected to it on a small rectangular glass coffee table. Across the entrance of the living room, was a cherry wooded rectangular dining table with a glass chandelier that hovered over it, and a kitchen with dark wooded cabinets and a bunch of appliances that Luke had no idea how they worked. Overall, the house was luxurious.

Luke walked to the living room and walked to a door that led to his room that was situated to his left. He opened it and walked into his room that had a king size bed with blue covered sheets, a black plasma TV on the opposite of it, a window to the end of the room that showed a beautiful view of the ocean, and a walk-in closet located near the bed.

Luke took a deep breath and walked to his closet. He only had a few articles of clothing that neatly hung on the racks, and some were neatly folded on the shelves. Luke grabbed a pair of faded blue jeans and an orange shirt—a Camp Half-Blood shirt to be exact. He dressed and _almost_ felt like a camper again. It felt nice to be in his old apparel that he asked his dad, Hermes, to get for him when he occasionally visited Camp Half-Blood.

Hermes visited to make sure Luke was happy and to have a nice chat with him about his life, and what's going on in the outside world. From what Hermes has told Luke, another war started which caused seven demigods to go on a quest which Percy and Annabeth were included,—Luke nearly had a panic attack when he found out they went into Tartarus—and the gods won, the Greeks and Romans got along fairly well—they still had tension—, and a heroine died whom he had no idea who, but Hermes assured him that he would meet her soon. He was taken back that so much happened after he died, but expected it since a life of a demigod was _never_ normal.

Luke walked out of his villa and walked to the gates. He grabbed one of the golden pole from the gate.

"Luke," a male said. Luke turned and saw it was Ethan Nakamura. Ethan had glossy black hair, a slim built figure, one dark-colored eyes that looks like he was insane, and the other eye had a patch like a pirate. Arg. He wore black pants, and a black-and-gray color shirt.

"What's up?" Luke asked.

"Tell me what you're up to," Ethan curiously asked.

"I'm leaving this life behind," Luke slowly said as he tightened his grip on the pole.

"Why?" He asked.

Luke gave a sigh but not from frustration, but because he had to give Ethan an explanation. "I want to leave this life behind and I want to do something better in my other life."

Ethan looked dumb struck as he said, "Luke, you can't be serious—"

Luke held up his hand for silence as he said "I want to go to the Isle of the Blest."

"Isn't the Elysium good enough?"

"That's average. I don't want to be in the average section. I want to go where the great people go to who did awesome things in their lives."

"Luke, you don't want to try rebirth for you can make up for this life, right?" Ethan asked as he anticipated Luke's response.

Luke stayed quiet for a few seconds as he carefully selected his words. Yes, Luke felt like he had some making up to do and that was a part of a reason on why he wants to do rebirth. "I want to move on. I did what I was supposed to do—"

"Which is to kill yourself for the _gods,"_ Ethan cut Luke off. The way Ethan said "gods" he said it with pure hatred and very venomously as if saying "gods" would put your tongue of fire.

Luke knew that Ethan still had a sore spot for the gods. He was glad the Percy kept his promise to him and told the gods that the minor gods should have a spot at Camp Half-Blood, but that was a small step, and Ethan wanted the minor gods to have a say on big issues that could affect the small power that they have.

"If I remember, you died when you changed your mind and fought me when I was controlled by Kronos," Luke said, frustrated. Talking about Kronos was not Luke's favorite subject. When he thought back about it, Luke should've ran away when he had the chance but at that time, he thought he was doing the right thing.

"That was because I realized I was wrong," Ethan said.

"Exactly—I did the same thing," he said.

Ethan clicked his tongue as he was deep in thought. "You did it to restore the balance," Luke reminded.

"I know," Ethan said in a low whisper.

"Out of all people I expected for you to understand me more."

"I still can't understand you, but I can't stop you, even if I stab a dagger in your chest even though we're both dead," Ethan said as the corners of his mouth turned a millimeter up.

"Thanks," Luke said and nodded. With that, Luke pushed the gate open, and he left.

* * *

Reyna sat alone on her room. Her room had painted light green walls, a king sized bed with lavender colored sheets, an open door window with its window wide open to let fresh air come in, a black plasma TV hung on the opposite side of the wall with a chimney made of bricks, two light wooded night stands were at the side of the bed with picture inside of portrait but were covered by a white silk cloth, and near the entrance was a slide open door closet. Nothing hung on the wall because there was no ones portrait Reyna had because she had no one. She was alone.

Reyna died as she evacuated a three story high watch tower:

Reyna swung from left to right at whatever beast trampled her way. She had just finished slaying a disgusting Minotaur. If Reyna wouldn't have known that Greek gods and Roman gods exist, she would've mistaken it for the devil himself.

"Evacuate!" She heard a male yell. Reyna turned around and saw that a three story high watch tower was being burned into flames by no other than Greek fire. The tower was the shape of the of a gigantic cube made of cement for the base and the rest made of logs piled on top of each other with three windows carved on each wall, and a four sided cone. The cone was on fire and Reyna could see that it was about to burn down and fall onto the third floor.

Reyna ran to the doorway and saw Romans flocking out like a herd of bulls. She barged her way through and saw guns, daggers, swords, canons, etc, left scattered on the floor. She went up the stairs to the second floor and quickly peeped to the window and saw a ball of Greek fire about to land on the fort.

"Out!" Reyna ordered. The Romans didn't need to be told twice because many of them were trying to exit the fort. The ball of Greek fire hit the second floor that caused the fort itself to wobble from the impact.

"Help!" A group of people yelled from the third floor.

"Praetor!" A fellow Roman soldier dressed in Roman armory called to her. "We must flee," he told her.

"I must help," Reyna tells him and she goes up the stairs. Once Reyna was up the stairs she saw a door. She turned the knob but the knob wouldn't budge so she kicked it open. She saw that the third floor looked demolished with its logs of wood on the floor and lit by fire. She scanned the room and saw that in the far corner a group of 10 Roman soldiers were huddled together. She didn't know how to get to them. She saw a small entrance through the logs and decided to squeeze into them. She removed her helmet because it would be too big and too heavy to carry. She was halfway through the hole when another shot of Greek fire was shot and caused once more for the fort to wobble. The Greek fire was spreading to where Reyna was near so she quickly shot herself out of the small space and on the floor.

Her forehead was beading with sweat. She had been fighting nonstop for the last 8 hours and she felt like she was about to break. The smoke was burning her lungs that made it difficult to breathe. _The Romans wouldn't give up on me so I shouldn't give up on them,_ she thought. She gritted her teeth as she got up. "Come to me," she told them as she held out her hand. From outside she heard swords crashing against one another and piercing screams when opened wounds were made.

Reyna looked out the window and saw that the Romans were fighting monsters and a group that Reyna didn't recognized were slowly approaching the fort with dynamites and a jar of Greek fire at hand. No, she thought, horrified.

"We can't go through the window since it's burning up. Go through the hole I came from." The Romans did as they were told. Reyna did the same and went to the second floor where the Romans followed. The floor of the third roof fell on them. Reyna saw everything swirling because it hit her on the head. She once again stood up while holding the roof above her. "Go," she told them.

"We can't—" a Roman spoke.

"Stay here," Reyna finished.

They all ran downstairs and Reyna was the only one left. She laid down again with the roof on top of her but she crawled down to the first floor. As Reyna was running to the exit, the fort bursted into flames. The fort was being burned down by Greek fire and mortal fire. The two floor fell on Reyna and whatever weapons were there. She frantically tried to move or lift the roof but it was no use. She wanted to scream for help but her voice was sore from the smoke she breathed. "You are a good soldier," a voice said in Reyna's head.

"Help," she squeaked.

"It's time to think for yourself than for other," Bellona said.

Reyna understood her mother's message: you've put others first beside yourself for a long time.

Reyna laid her head against the cool cement wall and closed her obsidian color eyes for the last time as her life past through her eyes.

The fort exploded.

She knew she did the right thing. If she had the chance to relive that moment, she would do the exact same thing all over again. She was Praetor of Rome. Her job was to protect the Romans before herself at all cost—it costed her her life.

Reyna hesitated at first, but eventually pulled off the silk cloth that covered the picture. The picture was a photo of everyone she knew gathered together: Hylla, Kinzie, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Octavian, Bobby Dakota, Gwen, Nico, Piper, Jason and her two dogs—Aurum and Argentum. She saw them all together as they posed in tattered armor and scratches across their faces. Reyna knew the picture was taken after the war and when she closely examined their eyes, she saw that they were watery with tears. _Have they possibly found out about my death? _she thought.

She looked at Percy and Jason. She thought that Percy was a courageous person with strong will and leadership. She turned her attention to Jason. Jason was a person who can quite a room by the raise of a single finger, he was leader, even though, he lacked on how sure or not sure he was when choices had to be made. They were both flawed, but those flaws made them who they are, and she always secretly admired that.

Percy was a rope that she _temporarily_ held as she tried to hold on.

Jason was a rock that she _used_ to until she grew strong enough to hold herself on her own.

She enough of the picture so she re-covered the picture with the cloth and looked at it. When she first arrived to her Victorian villa, she saw portrait staring at her when she first entered the room. She automatically covered the portrait.

Reyna sighed and laid back on her bed. She looked at the popcorn style ceiling since she had nothing to do. She had nothing to fight for. She no one to protect from. All of days were now full of peace and tranquillity; she was glad for it at first, but she quickly started to feel as if she were trapped in a box inside a perfect world.

She glanced at the armor at the corner of the room, next to the opened window. She walked to her tattered armor and held it up. The armor was made out of pure gold as it was decorated with medal. Sadly, the armor now had holes everywhere and looked droopy because the fire slightly melted the gold.

Underneath the armor, was a purple toga. The toga was dark purple with handmade lace on the bottom of the toga.

Reyna dressed in her old attire, and she felt her old regal self again. She finally felt that it was time to move on to better life and to lead other people whom she may call "family" if she's given the opportunity again.

* * *

Luke was at River Lethe. The river bordered the Elysium that came from Hypnos' cave. The water was milky white that reminded Luke of milk.

"This is it," Luke said out loud. He stared at the water and grew tempted to jump in the river and taste the water. Luke quickly shook his head to snap out of it. He glanced around and saw a boulder. He climbed the boulder and looked at his surroundings once more.

The sky was dark purple and an artificial white moon hung in the sky. Crickets cricketed as the river from the water slowly flowed in a peaceful yet harmonic way. From the cave, escaped soft murmurs and soft snoring.

Luke clapped his hands together and kneeled on the boulder as he prepared to dive into the river.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a female voice said.

Luke's blue eyes scanned his surroundings and finally landed on the black sand where a young girl sat. She had a long glossy black braid, olive skin, golden armor decorated in medals, a purple toga underneath, and a face expression that showed she was not impressed.

"Excuse me?" Luke asked, confused.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she repeated.

"Are you a goddess?"

Her dark eyebrows slightly furrowed as she said "No."

"Oh," he said, embarrassed. He thought she was a goddess by the way she was dressed.

"Why were you planning to dive?" She curiously asked him.

"I was planning to do rebirth," Luke answered.

"You want to do better things in the next life?" She asked in a tone as if she completely understood how he felt.

"Yeah," he croaked. "What's your name?"

"Reyna." The name sounded familiar to him.

"Luke."

Her eyes gleamed as she said "Castellan."

His eyes flew wide open from how shock he was. "How did you—"

"I've talked to Annabeth."

Luke's heart either sang or sank because he confused. Why would Annabeth talk about him?

"I met her when she landed at Rome," Reyna said.

"Camp Jupiter?"

"Yes," she wearily confirmed.

"My father told me about the Romans," he lied. When Luke was possessed by Kronos, he remembered finding that Mount Othrys was crumbling down during the Battle of Manhattan.

"How did you move on?" She politely asked. Luke knew she actually meant "How did you die?"

"It was during a battle," Luke answered.

"When you were possessed," she finished.

"How did you—"

"Annabeth."

"How about you?" Luke jumped off the boulder and sat next to her, while he still kept his distance—he saw her move away from him when he tried to sit close to her.

"I died during the battle," she whispered.

She's the one Dad talked about, he thought. "Oh." Luke could tell that she doesn't want to talk it and he doesn't want to talk about his right past.

They changed the subject to light things. They talked about their childhoods, Luke briefly talked about Camp Half-Blood and how it ran—even though Reyna seemed well-informed— and Reyna briefly discussed about Camp Jupiter and the way of life their.

The longer Luke talked to her the more he saw similarities between them, and he started to consider her as a friend.

"Are you still planning to do rebirth?" She asked. He looked at her and saw her gleaming obsidian eyes.

Luke glanced at the Elysium and saw the artificial sun gleaming down as he heard the sound of laughter and music. Reyna glanced at the Elysium too, and saw the exact same thing as Luke.

Luke had two choices: stay or return to the boulder to leave it all behind.

He knew what to do. He smiled.

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**I'll leave it you guys to decide whether Luke chose rebirth or not.**

**I see them as being friends since they do have similarities: rough pasts, rejected for someone else, good at sword fight, etc. **


End file.
